Monday, December 19, 2022

Mission Bay - San Diego, California

 

On our trip south to San Diego we stopped at Oceanside for an hour.
Locaated a Black-crowned Night-heron streamside.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk at the cemetery who chased away some Red-lored Parrots
before we could grab the camera.

The Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve
Cord Grass Marsh at high tide.

Marsh, low tide, view from our RV at Campland on the Bay

Mission Bay has a large concentration of wintering birds.
Flocks of Marbled Godwits, Willets, Whimbrels, Long-billed Curlews, Black-bellied Plovers,
Least and Western Sandpipers, both Yellowlegs, and Black Skimmers.

Great Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron adult and...

Juvenile Litlle Blue Heron

A great variety of waterfowl

Black Brant Geese

Black Brant - morning stretch

Flock of Brant geting grit at the beach and eating eel grass

Pied-billed Grebe

Osprey carrying nesting material to high school athletic field light

This Southeast Asian exotic - Swinhoe's White-eye was a surprise find.

Another Asian exotic, the Scaly-breasted Munia
formerly Nutmeg Mannikin

This Munia is feeding on Great Bullrush seeds.
Because they nest year-round their numbers are 
greatly increasing.

Anna's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

Black Phoebe

Bushtit

An unusual visitor - Sage Thrasher..

Many birder's came to get this on their list.

Cassin's Kingbird

Red-tailed Hawk eating a shorebird

Another Red-tailed Hawk, disobeys the sign

Red-shouldered Hawk screams to mate perched below..



Tumbleweed - tiny blossoms plus thorns

Tumbleweed blowing across Mission Bay to our beach

One of the variety of Eucalyptus tree blossoms

Point Medanos Jetty at the mouth of Mission Bay
Popular with surfers and birds.

Pelagic Cormorant and Western Gull

Sorry!  No fish to share 

Say's Phoebe hawking insects on the beach

American Pipit also chasing down insects

Large flocks of Surf Scoters at Bahia Point on Mission Bay where we also
scoped out a Red-necked Grebe.

Marbled Godwit searching through Kelp for food

Sanderling trying to outrun his reflection

Flock of Surfbirds resting above the rough surf

Surfbird getting sleepy in the sun

A west coast specialty

Black Turnstone

Black Turnstone

Black Turnstone gets hit by rogue wave

This Peregrine Falcon killed a Coot on the adjacent parking lot.
By the time I arrived a dog walker had flushed the bird.
I picked up the dead coot and tossed it on the beach hoping the bird would return.
The Falcon returned and plucked the bird.


Eating the entire bird

Feathers continue to float in the wind.

Over the half hour time period took over 160 photos.
No, you don't have to see all of them.

With a bulging crop, the Falcon could barely get off the ground.

A very memorable blessing.

Tomorrow we leave San Diego to the desert and the Salton Sea.
Wishing you all a very Merry Chirstmas, and a blessed New Year.
Love ❤️  & Prayers 🙏 
Ty & Ida Baumann











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